Koban 5: A Federation Forged in Fire (24 page)

Howard shook his head. “I never thought a Krall could be rattled that way. I guess they don’t like the idea of some bigger badder unseen predator chewing on their asses. The rippers left plenty of examples around to be found, particularly after a Krall got too close to hitting one of them or spotted them despite their Chamie Skins.

“Even with the ground teams spreading the Denial chips, the key to it all was the initial strategy that made it come together so well.”

Haveram, shrugged. “I’ve known and observed Tet a lot longer than you folks have, but his style of oblique thinking never took with me. I just can’t think that way. You have to have an aptitude to think like that, I suppose, and Manwell apparently has learned how.”

Nodding, Howard spread the credit a bit. “Manwell had the basic idea, after observing the concentrated Krall dispositions, but I think it was really Commander Molotov who added the finishing touches. Manwell described what he wanted the navy to try to do with his first wave of arrivals, and for their missiles set to miss and dive unexpectedly on ground targets.

“Then he would have let the other Kobani ships come in and put a cap over the Krall territory, as Greeves did at Poldark. Molotov was gutsy enough to let a Kobani fleet, a people her Commander in Chief had offered up to Telour as a sacrifice last month, to suddenly White Out in her squadron’s six O’clock position, and let them launch thousands of missiles her way.”

“Yea? I didn’t know that was her idea. It worked great. Now we have captured nearly another five hundred clanships for the Kobani fleet. Minus the ten or twelve, which Manwell’s ships and the navy had to destroy. Hot damn, we have over three thousand already, and Jorl Breaker picked up another twenty or so at the first Krall world his group of fifty raided.”

“Now you can trade in this smuggler’s ship for something with real armament and cargo space, Chief.”

“Give up the Falcon? No way in Hell!” He shook his head sharply.

“Besides, I don’t go into ports where I need heavy weapons or face criminals with warships, even though I have a few big guns mounted on the Falcon now, concealed so they aren’t noticeable. A former clanship would hold more goods than the Falcon, that’s true, but it wouldn’t let me travel unobtrusively, or give me human designed engines that I can tinker with when I want.

“It’s the art of making a deal that makes my ports of call interesting, not the chance of a space battle. I like mixing with the spaceport locals as one of them. Eventually, former clanships will be used as civil transports in Human Space I think, but it would mark the captain and crew as Kobani, and dangerous to mess with if you’re a crook. The black market dealers would avoid me. Anyone can haul freight back to Koban for me if it’s too much for the Falcon to carry. But that would be after I dealt with some deeply shady types, who frequently try to rob and kill me, just to acquire the untraceable precious metals and jewels that I carry for payment.

“If I get too much business competition while supplying Koban with all the other new ships around, I’m sure Poldark, New Dublin, Bollovstic, and a restored Greater West Africa will want to rebuild and repopulate. I know where to get good quality goods for the cheapest price, or where to get things that ain’t exactly legal in the PU, and I don’t mean drugs or the like. The Hub worlds still hold most of the manufacturing rights for goods the Rim worlds need and can’t afford to buy at Hub prices very often, holding them back. There are back channel suppliers of unlicensed goods and equipment, and sometimes things that someone on the wrong side of the law helped fall off a truck. No reason a buyer like me can’t deliver them to Rim worlds at the discounted price plus a transport fee. I’m taking a long haul approach. I plan to serve the hungry fledgling colonies that’ll settle in the Krall territory after we have those planets secured and safe. The Raspani, Prada and Torki will trust me to deal fair, and the new human settlements will
learn
to trust me.”

“Those colonies might not start for twenty damned years or more, Chief.”

“I think some will come sooner than that, but if not, so what? You have the same long life Prada mod I do, Howie my boy, if not yet the youthful appearance and good looks. Nanites can’t help you on the looks, you either got ‘em or you don’t. How about forming a post-war partnership with me? I can getcha a good deal on a used, roomy, heavily armed cargo ship. Even with hard use, they last about a thousand years between rebuilds.”

Chapter 5: The Pursuit

The nine clanships of Telour’s small force completed a somewhat ragged White Out over the soft Krall prison planet. It was just over a four thousand light year Jump from K1, so they arrived within several minutes of one another, the small quantum uncertainties altering their arrival times after greater than three weeks in the Hole. Visitors here were rare, and the Tanga clan, which guarded the Krall’tapi, did not maintain an orbital watch.

Only leaders of the Great clans knew of this world’s location, and of the other system, a three day’s Jump from here, where the Olt’kitapi had once planned to build their first gigantic artificial habitat, a Dyson Swarm of planetary diameter constructs. That system, with its rich supply of giant planets to use for building materials, and a small red star, offered a hundred billion years of solar stability for the multitude of species the Olt’kitapi had envisioned as eventually being invited to live there.

That was where their growing fleet of Dismantler ships had been parked, preparing to start the great construction project. That was when the original version of the Krall species had seen the destructive potential of the powerful gravitation manipulating craft. Their ambition to control this technology, and to halt the modification of a segment of their species by the Olt’kitapi, was what had finally triggered the revolt the warrior race had been planning for over a thousand years. They intended to continue to evolve in a deliberate manner by their own choices, to become the scourge of the galaxy, and over the course of enough time, to conquer the entire galaxy. These were grand plans by what were, after all, space borne barbarians with borrowed and stolen technology, following what they called the Great Path. The Path of their own evolution, and built via enslaving or killing any species they met and taking their worlds, and their war making technology.

Now the newest species, which the Krall had engaged in another war of extinction, was on the verge of knocking them off the Great Path. Telour knew what he had observed on Telda Ka potentially spelled the end for every Krall clan, if they were sent back to using only the technology they’d held before meeting the Olt’kitapi. They weren’t even prepared to conduct a war like that.

By continuing to build the same weapons designed by their former benefactors, using the same style replicated factories, and employing the identical quantum coded keys that had denied other species the use and understanding of their war machines, the Krall leadership had made a similar mistake as had the Olt’kitapi. They came to rely too much on their stolen technology to hold an advantage over other non-warlike species. Combined with their slowly developing physical advantages, that technology had made them unstoppable. They had even turned over the manufacturing of their weapons to slaves. Their K’Tal no longer learned how to invent or create new things, only how to use what they had or acquired. As a species, they focused only on how to master combat.

They had forced this formerly aggressive, more adaptable young species, to find a way to speed up their evolution and somehow produce fighters that were superior to an individual Krall in only a single generation or two. Now, with the cooperation of some freed slaves, they had learned how to deny the Krall the use of their traditional weapons of war. Telour reasoned that if he could hit humans hard enough one more time, that this enemy could be held at bay while new weapons of war were built. Weapons without quantum codes keys to restrict their use.

He frankly didn’t know how the quantum code system worked, and none of the K’Tals he questioned had ever learned how their tattoos interacted with the keypads, and with other modules inside their smaller weapons. Nevertheless, humans made weapons that didn’t use such technology, and so had the early Krall for that matter. Therefore, the Prada and Torki could be made to do it for the Krall. All he needed was time, and he would destroy the small band of humans that had found the unsuspected weakness in Krall war making capability. It all could be corrected. He would force humanity to pause their attacks while new ships and weapons were built, and billions of eggs hatched, to produce overwhelming swarms of warriors.

He wanted all of the remaining death ships for his purpose, so the first step was to collect soft Krall pilots. Telour, with his new insight, recognized how this too had ultimately made the Krall weaker, depending on the Olt’kitapi’s last great technological accomplishment, and on the older version of the Krall race that the ancients had somehow modified.

He believed this weakness would vanish, when the last three ships quit functioning after his rampage of planetary destruction ended. Following that, there would be no need to preserve the soft Krall, or any of the soon to be useless ancient ships. He would destroy them, and turn his attention on rebuilding, to defeat humanity.

Tanga may not have had clanships in orbit, but they were prompt in launching ten of them to challenge the nine arrivals, and sent a broadcasted demand.

“I’m sub leader Jandol, of Tanga clan, commander of this outpost. Identify yourself.”

“I am Tor Gatrol Telour and I recognize you. We met an orbit ago when I was sent to inspect the compound as Til Gatrol, when Parkoda was commander here.”

The lips tightened on the image in the view screen. Telour’s last visit was not a pleasant one, and Jandol was unlikely ever to forget a single humiliating second of the visit.

“Parkoda never returned after he left with you.” It wasn’t quite an accusation, and he’d left out the honorific of Tor in his reply.

“He was free to return here, but he was still at Graka’s clanship production factory when human raiders attacked there. I presume he died honorably fighting the attackers, as did many of my clan mates.”

This placating story was true, as far as Telour told it, but omitted the detail that Parkoda was deliberately stranded on the Graka clan world, hoping that he would be replaced as commander here before he could return. It didn’t sound like the new commandant was overly thrilled to see the indirect cause of his promotion return.

“Tor Telour, your own representatives were here less than a quarter of an orbit ago for selecting a pilot for a living ship. He did not return and he was presumed killed. A courier that passed through here said it was a successful mission with two human worlds destroyed, but the living ship was lost. The soft Krall’s family was informed, and his family released unharmed as honor required. Are you here to verify that?”

“No, and I have not returned for an inspection.” He wanted fast cooperation, so he did some placating.

“As Parkoda’s chief sub leader, I know that you actually were the one that ran the camp so efficiently, and you rightfully earned your promotion after Parkoda was killed in combat. I have come to select six additional soft Krall pilots for a vital attack on human worlds. Our Worthy Enemy has counter attacked Telda Ka again, despite the destruction of two worlds intended to teach them a lesson.

“We will destroy their home world this time and as many heavily populated Hub worlds as possible, using all three of the remaining ships. I have re-named them as death ships, and not living ships, to describe their actual use in our wars. The new Joint Council dome was again attacked, and only a few hands of the surviving clan leaders are with me on the ships I brought. We will chose pilots quickly with your help, and then depart.

“When this triple death ship mission is completed, you and your command will be permitted to join the fight against humanity and leave this remote outpost, leaving its inhabitants and their dome a smoking ruin. Your status will be elevated for this service, and mentioned in our histories.”

That stirred more than a semblance of interest and fervor in Jandol, even if it was purchased. Telour saw no need to concern him about the status point reward he would receive, despite the fact that the Tor’s own status was greatly diminished by the loss of so much of the fleet, and the possible fall of Telda Ka. Every clan had a share in losing such an enormous amount of status, and as in any time of shortage, what status anyone retained had a greater value, and the Tor had more to share.

“We will be honored to escort you to the dome for pilot selection, my Tor.”

“That would be efficient.” At least this stop would be delay free.

This is starting out right,
thought Telour.

****

Humanity once used a simple and basic name convention for natural satellites orbiting a planet. Such satellites were always called a moon. If a lifeless satellite was orbiting a giant planet, even if that satellite was Earth sized, it was still called a moon.

Then when it was discovered that two gas giant planets in the Sol system had a few satellites that
supported primitive life
in their watery depths, a new naming convention was established, to distinguish those satellites from their lifeless brethren. Life-bearing satellites were thereafter called a planetoon, and they received special protections from exploitation and visitation to avoid contamination. If a planetoon in turn had a satellite, it was called a moony, even though none was found in the Sol system.

A planetoon and moony combination was a relatively rare system, and they only happened where the small satellite was within what is known as the planetoon’s gravitational Hill sphere. That term was defined by an American astronomer named George William Hill. It meant the planetoon’s gravity dominated the moony’s orbit more than did the more distant Jovian. Exactly the same principle applied to the Jovian, when its gravitational attraction for the planetoon dominated its orbit versus the more distant star’s attraction, meaning that the planetoon was inside the Jovian’s Hill sphere.